Discussion

He wants a Pumpkin Roll

So, the kid has a boy. For the past three years, they have come to our T-Day dinner at 1pm and then quickly scoot to his family dinner at 5, 40 minutes north. This year, his family was told that my kid and the boy would just come for dessert. His family "gets" Easter so the kids thought this was a good compromise. Evidently not!

Instead, his family has changed their dinner to 1pm for the first time in the boy's 30 year memory! Net result is, the kids will only have dinner with us.

Trying to be supportive, I asked him tonight if there were any holiday dishes that his family serves that we don't. I expected some g-dawful casserole with canned onions, or something. Nope. His fondest T-Day memory is a Pumpkin Roll. Googling quickly found a Libby's Pumpkin version and then some riffs on websites I don't trust at all.

Though I see no reason to add yet another dessert to our three traditional pies, pumpkin roll it is! So, does anyone have a good pumpkin roll recipe that they can share?

The Bon Appetite cake has no gelatin. The filling was frankly not worth the effort, and that's what has the gelatin - use ice cream instead. But it sounds like the LIbby recipe is right for the occasion.

The Barefoot Contessa's pumpkin roulade is the best!This Thanksgiving is the 4th year in a row of making this dessert. Yup. I make some trad pumpkin desserts, but now this is the traditional pumpkin cake that accompanies the pies. It. Is. Fantastic. My prep is right now at the ready!

Libby's is pretty standard and if you're doing it for him, that might be the easiest way to go. Most out there, even Epicurious's, are riffs off of it anyway w/ spice variations. I'd much rather do an unnecessary pumpkin roll than a green bean casserole. Count your blessings!

I've seen variations that have orange zest added to the roll and orange cream cheese filing and that sounds good. OTOH, if he's used to Libby's, he might not like it and he is the reason you're making it. I refuse to buy cream of mushroom soup so am doing green bean casserole from scratch. I have the feeling it's not going to go over well! I should heed my own advice and just buy the canned soup.

I had "Splendid Table" on the radio last weekend, and this issue came up.

The host was talking about how she'd worked to make green bean casserole entirely from scratch, and everyone hated it.

She summed up her essay with the comment that it's tradition, and people expect it to taste the way they know it's supposed to taste. You have 364 other days to put your own spin on food...stick to tradition on Thanksgiving.

After a disastrous experience with Bourbon Pumpkin Pie one year....I now toe the line with tradition.

I have never actually had this ubiquitous green bean casserole. My mother is quite adamant about only eating things that would have been on the Pilgrims table. When I married, I had to add green beans and mashed potatoes to our menu to accommodate his idea of Thanksgiving. Thank goodness, the casserole was not what he wanted since his mother didn't make it either. Simple steamed green beans which is quite a refreshing change from all the other heavier menu items.